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THR Plum Perfect's new hip!

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Plum, you are doing amazingly well! Isn't it so wonderful to be on the other side?? I am like you, was feeling so much better almost as soon as the new hip was placed. We are so, so lucky to live in this day and age..
do you know what type of hip they placed in you? I have no idea other than its a Stryker.. I am supposed to get that info at my 4 week checkup.I had to pop in and show you that I can still type. ;)
 
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@CricketHip grea to get your note, I am late today but for a good reason. I slept from 11 to 6 with only one potty break, a REAL sleep, not like the toss and turn I have had for several years now. I got up, took care of the girls, had a small bowl or cereal, went back to SLEEP and slept another 4 hours! I feel like this is the first real sleep in years. Of course I have the aches and pains, stiffness, etc. but for some reason they feel like healing pains. WooHoo what a great day today.
My prosthesis is made by Depuy, it is a Corail stem with a Pinnacle cup, the 'ball' is ceramic and the cup liner is Altrx, a cross linked polyethylene. The Corail has been around for a very long time and my OS told me he can feel confident with it. My stem has a 'collar' which sits on top of the stem, this adds some stability as the bone is healing to prevent subsistence. My cup size is 52, my ball is 32 and the liner is 4 mm. if I had a larger ball I would have to have a thinner liner and this thickness should last as long as I do :dancy: This may be more than you want to know but I am a scientist by career, and personality, and just can't help asking all these questions. One of the reasons I am so happy with my OS is that he took the time to answer every question I had, never made me feel rushed and told me he had to take two valium before he had surgery so my nervousness was normal.

I have to say I didn't really believe him when he told me how smooth recovery would be but I did have a positive attitude and his experience of over 1300 hips gave me lots of confidence.

Day 6 post OP my swelling has gone down even more, I can get in and out of bed much more easily. My walking is still uneven when I first get up from sleeping or even sitting for a few minutes. I am continuing my up or in bed with ice routine. Weight bearing is necessary for osteogenesis but too much torque will keep the bone from growing into the surface of the implant, I was not able to find any research on the optimal amount of weight bearing exercise for hip replacement. From my research I discovered that often the people who recovered the most quickly had longer term problems. My commitment to myself is to allow my body the full 6 weeks to heal before I attempt any sort of unusual exercise. I am not doing PT exercises unless they come naturally to me, such as heel slides, ankle pumps, leg lifts, easy stretches, standing up straight working on my posture. I plan to start my PT after I have basic healing behind me.

Today I can lift my surgical leg straight up while in bed, this means I can lift my leg off the pillow and over the bed without the use of my hands to support the leg or support moving my butt on the bed. It is a slow and precise movement. I try to stand still when I first stand whether from sitting, bed, or wherever, I feel 'something' in my leg when weight bearing, it isn't pain but my mind responds as though it will be so I try to calm my mind before I take my first step. Unfortunately I don't do this when I wake up at night and have to pee, this means I limp to the bathroom.

My extra sleeping today means much of my day has passed and I haven't had my morning shower yet and it is after lunch time already. I have reduced my pain meds so I only take them during the day when I am going to be active, the last one is at 7 or 8 at night and the first one is before I get up in the morning. I've lengthened the time to 6 hours, no change in my pain level which is minimal.

Plum Perfect leaving for a much needed shower. Good healing to everyone, I hope you have some sunshine, and something to be thankful for today.
 
:happydance: re: the wonderful sleep! That is a wonderful thing. :)
I hope the rest of your day is just as amazing.
 
Sleep is great :sleeep::sleeep::sleeep:

Wow thanks for sharing your new parts on detail. I have my post op apt on October 19 and now have a better idea of what detailed info to ask. My wondering with 2 hips if they use the same ones.

Glad you are doing better. Only better days ahead.
 
Hello Everyone, I know the over for some, for me it has just been a really sleepy day. You would think weaning off pain pills would have the reverse effect but no. I had another great nights sleep and was able to sleep on my non operated side which was a nice change. I didn't wake up until after 6 this morning, I took a pain pill with the intention of just dozing a few minutes, nearly two hours later my girls decided I had had enough, time for breakfast. Breakfast routine is now well organized but I do get plenty of exercise. After my coffee and breakfast time for ice and check in on BS, settled myself on my bed and promptly fell asleep again - true sleeping sickness. This is the way my day has been all day today. I did get in my shower and my walk but after every bit of exercise I crawled back into bed with my best friend, :ice:, so much for celebrating my 1 week anniversary. Oh, I did get in the car, I put my foot on the accelerator and moved it to the brake a few times. While there was no pain it certainly didn't feel normal yet but hey it has only been a week. I also went out in the yard and picked up 'poop' so I did add a couple of new movements today.

My girls decided to give me some challenges today, my youngest, Jessie, ate an ice bag, her mother Ruby ate a sponge, and my old girl, Natalie, opened the pantry and got into the dog food. Never a dull moment. Only Livi was a good girl. I just gave them all dinner and now I'm getting my daily BS report done and will be ready for my dinner. I hope to have enough energy to check in on everyone else but the way today has been who knows.:sleeep:
 
Enjoy the sleep!! You need it to heal and yes, you are busy with those three rascals and the one "good dog".
Good night!:dogwalk::puppysmooze::doggie::dogsniff:
 
@Plum Perfect I enjoyed reading your update and it seems that you are moving forward.I tried to reduce the dose of my painkillers yesterday but it didn't work for me so I have decided to leave it until next Tuesday which is the day after my clips are to be removed.Enjoy your rests as we certainly need them at the moment.
 
@Plum Perfect, wow, that is an awesome detailed report on the type and sizes of your implants! I had my post-op yesterday and wish I had asked those questions. I am very curious like you and like to know as much as possible so I will make a note of it to inquire at my next follow-up visit. My surgeon did give me a picture of my old hip and pictures of the implants but I don't think it showed the sizes on there - I will have to go take another look.

I'm so glad to hear your "log leg" is going away and you are now able to lift it - I remember that being such a weight lifted when that happened for me (pun intended) :heehee:

Question for you: I think I read upthread a day or two ago that you put your own TED hose on/off. Is there a trick for doing that? I have a hard enough time putting regular cotton socks on with that sock thingie that was in the hip kit they gave me to bring home. The one that they had us practice with in the rehab facility was plastic and the sock glided off much easier but the one that came in my kit is like a terry cloth material and doesn't work very well at all. There is no way I could use it with the TED hose.

Anyways, keep up your amazing recovery; it sounds like you have some awesome entertainment with your pets to keep you occupied! :dogsniff:
 
@Plum Perfect, it sounds like you are doing amazingly well! And at just one week. GOOD FOR YOU! It sounds like you get quite the workout just with the normal routine for your girls. Silly little ones, eating all that stuff! :wink:
You're getting there. What's a few naps compared to how wondefully you're doing?
Sending continued good thoughts as you go through today and the days to follow. :)
 
Good morning Bone Smartie's, another sunny day in California and I have been up since 8:00 enjoying it. Today is my first day not to crawl back into bed. I do believe it is the one day up/one day down theme as I spent most of yesterday in bed icing and napping. Reading @CricketHip wonderful day on the porch motivated me to move on a little bit. I am not ready to move my day outdoors yet but I did move my computer to the dining room table where I had my coffee and breakfast. I did wake up around 6:30, not quite as good a night as the two previous, perhaps due to no before bed pain med, will see tonight. Morning pee, pain pill, feed the girls and back to bed with some ice. My incision area seemed warm, possible since I had been icing it continuously I never noticed. Since I'm now having the moving soreness others have described I have been moving the ice too. I relaxed in bed until nearly 8, checked in on BS on my phone and not much else. I realized I was hungry so I got up. With a burst of energy this morning I changed the sheets and made the bed fresh, started a load of wash and made breakfast. I had boiled some eggs so had egg salad on toast and coffee. I decided to carry my computer to the dining table and haven't been back to bed! I have ice on my incision area now, the kitchen is clean, waiting for the wash to finish and go in the dryer. I haven't taken my shower yet, don't know if I should nap first or shower first. this has already been a very active day for me. I plan to get in/out of the car twice today, I want to work on what I need to do to to feel safe in the car.

Time for another pain pill now, I think I'll nap and shower after. While the shower is wonderful it does take a lot of effort. I don't have any problem getting in/out, it is a walk in shower, or standing, by the time I finish I am exhausted and always ready for a nap. I'll give the pill time to be in full force, especially since today had already been a very busy one and the first day without a morning nap.

Happy, healing vibes on the way to all my Bone Smartie friends. Time to commune with my best friend :ice:
 
Hi @Plum Perfect, I just caught up with your thread. Awesome! I really enjoyed reading it. I bought a shower stool at Loewe's that was really nice. I could sit on it while I washed my hair. Like you said, it can be very tiring to shower. I also put up a couple of grab bars. I'm still using those. They give me a feeling of security.

That was interesting what you said about the cane. My dad gave me my mom's two walkers. One of them is really nice. It has a shelf and a bag. I was able to put my food on it, and walk from the kitchen to wherever I was eating. I used the other one as I got out of the shower. It was just helpful to reach for it as I climbed over my bathtub. (I know your shower is different.) I also had bilateral surgery, so I think I needed more helpful aids. I'm amazed that you did it without a walker, though! I loved that walker! At night I would get a bit creaky, and so I would reach for it.

You sound like you are eating really well, and have a very wise routine. I agree with you about waiting to do too much exercise. That's pretty much what I did. I've had excellent results, and am not in pain.

Sounds to me like you will have no problem showing dogs in December. You're doing great!
 
I learned something new today, it may help someone else. I was researching gait training after reading @Grannyhippy thread. I started looking for Trendelenburg gait but then moved onto recovery training in general. I have been feeling that I can walk without a limp only when I am really concentrating, and haven't just gotten up or am tired, but I kept feeling something wasn't quite right. I do have a mirror I use when training my dog and have about a 20' distance I can walk and watch. It didn't look perfect but I couldn't figure out why. While reading info on what exercises to do I came across something interesting. It said that often during the beginning of recovery we take a longer stride with our operated leg. I would have thought the exact opposite but it went on to say that the reason for this is that when we take a long stride with our 'normal' leg we feel the pull in our OP leg. Sure enough I tried it and felt the pull. OK so I practiced not thinking about my OP leg stride but the other leg and embracing the pull. Lo and behold my gait improved immediately! Those of you with PT probably have someone pointing these details out but for me it was a big surprise. I am now practicing my hourly walk concentrating on my non OP leg. I hope this helps some one else. Back to my best friend now. :ice: Please share any exercises you find particularly helpful.
 
Plummy, that is a great discovery! I have been working on this myself, but I didn't even think to try to explain it on here. hanging my head :sad::shrug: You explained it so well and where I am at is trying to expand on that and make sure both of my actual hip joints move in a smooth figure 8 motion while walking. We lose so much ROM inside the affected joint and then muscles waste while others tense up and theres where my issue is.. trying to get a fluid forward motion on a continual basis while walking, clear through the stance and swing portion of the gait.

if you look up Antalgic Gait- which is what we adapted to avoid putting weight on our affected joint, you see what needs to change post op. So, my goal is to bear weight on the operative side and hold it so my good leg can swing forward and yes, that puts a pull on the surgical site! I found that if I shortened the swing part a bit then I could get into a nice flow.
Notice on the demonstrations of the Antalgic Gait how the person doesn't have a nice side to side motion with his hips (figure 8 motion)instead it became an up and down sort of a hitch to the get along.
google it and see if this is in harmony to what you've already researched.
fascinating stuff!!
 
Thank you so much @Crickerhip, I looked up Antalgic gait and watched some videos, that was me exactly. It makes total sense to practice the swing phase of the 'good' leg which causes a longer weight bearing phase on the Op leg. So interesting to see this from two different perspectives. My OS office called checking in, she reiterated that no exercises, other than walking, is needed for the first two weeks. It makes me feel lazy readi other posts but I am doing a lot of regular walking and then just taking care of activities of daily living keeps me busy.

Thank you for sharing this information, I think the more we learn the better we will do. I wonder if PT would explain this or just tell us what to do. Do you have PT? Keep up those healing ways.
 
Hello @Plum Perfect; thank you so much for your recovery posts. I do read them in my spare time as I gear up for my 11/3 surgery. Your level of detail is super helpful; I take notes, even! I wanted to ask you about this:
Plum Perfect said:
From my research I discovered that often the people who recovered the most quickly had longer term problems.
Click to expand...
Is this true, really? Based on research you have seen? I don't doubt you whatsoever! :) I'm definitely known as an overdo-er, particularly when given PT protocols and rehab assignments. If they tell me to do 30 reps, I'll shoot for 50. It's NOT something I am proud of and am already trying to change that mindset pre-op, as all of my bonesmarties have told me to chill out and let your body recover! But if I had research in hand that proves that those who push for a quick recovery actually have longer term problems...well, that may be what my mind needs to hear in order to change a bad habit.
Thank you for any further insight on that note. You sound GREAT! I love your scientific and practical approach to everything. And now I'm going to ask my OS the thickness of my cup, thanks to you! X0
 
Plum, I only have a short list of exercises that are recommended for me. My Dr won't order PT until he sees me and assesses me at the 4 week's mark. I am hoping that I won't need much PT, if any. I don't want them pushing me and making something sore on a chronic basis. But if he recommends it then I will be there in the trenches doing what I can. My OS is like yours, wants walking to be the main focus.
 
@sandiegomom Here is the paragraph:
'n a very small minority of my patients, these stems appeared to fail to osteointegrate — the bone failed to solidly attach to the femoral stem. The number of patients was very small, but it was significant, since many of these patients had specifically sought out an anterior approach because their independent research had led them to believe that their ability to return to physical activity, hiking, cycling, and other sports would be improved if they had an anterior approach. Indeed, most of the patients who failed to achieve solid osteointegration on the femoral side were those who had exceptionally fast recoveries.' and 'It is difficult to know for certain, but I hypothesize that another potential reason why this stem may fail to integrate in a minority of my patients after an anterior approach is because their speedy recovery and fast rehabilitation puts too great of a stress about the “rolling axis” (to use a term borrowed from aviation) of the component before the stem can be adequately stabilized by ingrowing bone.'
Here is the web address: broken link removed: https://www.anteriorhipreview.com/failure-of-fixation-on-the-femoral-side/

Please read the entire article and raw your own conclusions.

Before I retired I sold chemicals and some of them are the chemicals used to coat the prosthesis that allows the bone to grown into it and completely stabilize the prosthesis. A lot of research went into this by many companies. For me personally I decided that allowing myself a few extra week just on the chance that this could be true was worthwhile. If you've ever had a broken bone you know it doesn't heal in 3 weeks and we have a sawed off bone!

To the rest of you Bone Smarties I'm just a science nerd. I asked my OS lots of questions, I trust him completely and just wanted to know he had a good reason for every decision.

Off for another visit with my best friends :ice: and :sleep::sleep::sleep::sleep:
 
@Plum Perfect Hi, I too read that article re the Trendelenburg gait where one takes a longer stride with the operated leg but could not find the site again to post it. I did try doing what they suggested. It helped a bit but obviously I have other problems to deal with. I hope your gait continues to improve now that you are trying to do as they suggest. I will post on my thread another website which has an animated video explaining Trendelenburg Gait very well.
 
@Plum Perfect, what fascinating stuff about gait therapy! Thank you! I am quite a ways off from needing this, but boy, will I be referring back to this when it's my time. I have walked stiffly and then with a limp for so long that I really cannot believe that I'll be able to perhaps one day walk normally. This gives me hope. :flwrysmile:
 
@Plum Perfect thank you for posting the article I find this fascinating to read and it appears to endorse the unhurried slow but steady approach advocated on here.I see why you have decided against launching into PT.I did read an article but I forgotten where which advocated gait training for hip replacement patients once they have recovered to ensure the best result
 
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